Beha’aloscha

As the Jews were going about their travels, Hashem commands Moshe to make trumpets, עשה לך שתי חצוצרת כסף , make for yourself two silver trumpets. Rashi says the words עשה לך mean that they were made by Moshe only for Moshe and no one else was allowed to use them.

Why were the trumpets different than any other vessel in the Mishkan which were used by later generations as well, not just Moshe's?

Reb Yechezkel Abramsky says this teaches us how to transmit the Torah to future generations. We can't use the same methods in every generation to teach the Torah; as the times change, we have to change the way we teach the Torah. While the message of the Torah is the same, the vehicle we use to teach must be new, for just as the blasts of the trumpets will always be the same, the trumpets themselves must be new.

One of the functions of the trumpets was to call the people together. If both trumpets sounded one long blast, everyone was to gather at the Ohel Moed.  If only one trumpet was used for the long blast, then only the leaders were to come. Reb Shimon Alter asks, why would we need the trumpets to call together the twelve heads of the tribes; couldn't we just call them by name since it was only twelve people?

The gemara in Sanhedrin relates a conversation between Hashem and Yiravam ben Nivat during which Hashem told Yeravam " I , you and Dovid ben Yishay will stroll together in the garden.” Yeravem then asked, “who will go first, I or Dovid?” When Hashem answered Dovid, Yiravam said, “forget it I'm not interested.”  

Reb Chaim Shmulevitz asks why did he have to ask who was first; Hashem had said straight out it would be I, you & Dovid.  He was originally first; why did he have to ask??  He answers that the pursuit of honor is so strong that he had to hear again that he was first & no matter how much honor he got, if he wasn't first it was all worthless.

This is why, says Reb Shmuel Alter, there had to be a trumpet blast even just to call the twelve leaders. Had they called them out by name whoever got called later might be envious of those called earlier. To avoid any feelings of jealousy, they were all called simultaneously by one long blast.

Reb Aryeh Levin was once walking with his grandson, and he asked the boy the following question: "Is it better to be a 'hater of falsehood' or a 'lover of truth'? His grandson did not know how to respond, so Reb Aryeh answered: "To be a lover of truth is a higher level. Someone who hates falsehood will see the falsehood that exists in every person, and he will come to despise them or even hate them, G-d forbid. A lover of truth, however, will see the truth in every person, and he will come to honor them and even love them

The key to Torah is unity; as it says when we received the Torah כאיש אחד בלב אחד .The major obstacle to unity is jealousy. If we truly love someone we will not be jealous of them; parents are not jealous of their child's success. If we can remove jealousy from our hearts & not say or do things that will engender feelings of jealousy in other people, we will be able to transmit the Torah  in its purest sense!